Zowie! Sounds like a case of a developer fighting back against Philly over eminent domain for private gain, doesn't it? Click on title of article to read full text..it's a gem of an article.

Developer condemns city
By Michael Matza
Inquirer Staff Writer

Don't tell developer Stephen Stein he can't fight City Hall.

Ever since Philadelphia took land he owned on Grays Ferry Avenue near 36th Street to pave the way for a FedEx facility in 2001, there have been days Stein stubbornly thinks of nothing else.

The heart of his claim is that the city confiscated his land illegally to benefit a private company.

....The empty land, in a run-down part of the city formerly used for meat packing, was declared "blighted" a decade ago by the Redevelopment Authority.

How distressed is the surrounding area? The nearest neighborhood is called Forgotten Bottom.

Stein, who lives in Narberth and dabbles in several businesses, including the sale of rock salt to municipalities for icy highways, portrays himself as a one-man band against insiders aligned with powerful forces in the city's administration. He hints, without providing evidence, that the rights of scores of Philadelphia property owners have been abused when the government's power to condemn property for the public good has been wielded for the private gain of well-connected parties.

....But Stein, sticking to his guns, thinks that it is and that his perseverance can be the catalyst for a potential federal class-action lawsuit. Represented by lawyer Michael Pileggi, Stein has filed a federal civil-rights action that alleges the taking is illegal.

....Under the law of eminent domain, the government has the right to condemn, confiscate and pay fair market value for any property if the purpose of the taking is "the public good."

But Stein, 64 - whose real estate business, Down Under G.F.B. Inc., was cofounded by his father, Morris, now deceased - contends the taking of his dogleg-shaped parcel near a bend in the Schuylkill was solely to benefit a private party, FedEx, which built a distribution warehouse on adjacent ground in 2001 and needed Stein's parcel to create a driveway.

Among the evidence Stein has marshaled is a 2004 e-mail acquired through legal discovery. The e-mail is from a manager in the city Commerce Department to a lawyer for another city department. It states that the condemnation of Stein's land "was catalyzed due to the FedEx property transaction and for no other reason."